North Little Rock's elected officials and nonuniformed employees are in line for a 2.5% pay increase, and a new firefighters union contract will raise firefighters' pay by 3%, according to legislation to be filed today, Mayor Joe Smith said Monday.
The firefighters contract and other employee raises are pending North Little Rock City Council approval. All legislation concerning the pay increases will go before the City Council at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.
Raises for elected officials and nonuniformed workers will cost the city $418,866, Finance Director Karen Scott said, with the raises to take effect June 1, if approved. The cost will be spread across North Little Rock's six different budgetary funds.
The general fund, which is the city's operating budget, comprises $189,194 of that increase, raising that 2019 budget to $71.1 million, Scott said. When the budget was approved in December, the general fund stood at $68.02 million. A previous budget increase was to make up back holiday pay owed to firefighters and adjustments to fire and police pension plans.
The pay increase under the new firefighters' union contract, which will be for three years, will cost a separate $749,488, if approved, Scott said. Firefighter pay raises will be retroactive to Jan. 12, she said.
Employee raises weren't included in the 2019 city budget approved in December because workers and elected officials had been granted a 2.2% raise that took effect in August. An increase in uniformed police salaries was already included in this year's budget at a cost of $755,597 to the city.
However, Smith said Monday that he has been anticipating awarding a pay bump at some point this year for several reasons, including that the city's health insurance costs are likely to go up mid-year, possibly negating raises in next year's budget. This would be the fourth consecutive year all have received pay raises.
"We might as well do it now," Smith said. "We're always concerned what our insurance cost is going to be."
The city pays 100% of its covered employees' health insurance premiums. Employees pay a yearly deductible of $500 per individual, which Scott said could increase to $1,200 if rates rise as anticipated. The city's health insurance is through the Arkansas Municipal League.
The Municipal League Health Benefits Board meets Thursday, when a decision on insurance rates is expected to come, Scott said.
"There's nothing decided yet, but based on our claims data we think there's a very good likelihood they'll give us a mid-year increase of 10%," Scott said.
The city projects having $21 million in its fund balance, or reserve, by the end of this year, Smith said. Between the increased reserve, efficient budgeting and the city having started 2018 with a voter-approved, additional 1% city sales tax, North Little Rock is in good financial condition to provide raises, Smith said.
"Most of it is tightening our belts and keeping expenses low, even after the tax increase," Smith said.
Providing raises also addresses a concern, Smith said, about possibly losing employees at a time when the national economy is doing well enough that hirings and wages are up. Scott, for example, is leaving this month after being hired to become chief financial officer at Benton Utilities, that city's electric and water company.
"I think that we've never been in as good of financial shape as we're in now," Smith said. "The economy is in such good shape now that I have to protect my assets, which are my employees. I think it's necessary to stay up with the market. We need to pay our employees what's fair for the job that's done."
The raises include full-time elected positions: the mayor, City Attorney Amy Fields and City Clerk-Treasurer Diane Whitbey, and the eight City Council members who are part time. Also included will be Police Chief Mike Davis and Fire Chief Gerald Tucker, assistant police and fire chiefs, fire battalion chiefs and the fire marshal, all of whom aren't part of unions.
Currently, annual pay is $125,092.94 for Smith; $106,261.42 for Fields; $74,013.20 for Whitbey; and $104,772.92 for both Davis and Tucker, according to the city Human Resources office. City Council members are paid $11,059.55 annually.
Smith had been in lengthy negotiations with the firefighters union, which ended last week when the union voted to accept Smith's latest offer.
The union contract also includes an increase from $175 monthly in "day worker" pay to $250 per month. That classification is mostly for captains, Scott explained, who work five eight-hour shifts instead of 24-hour shifts.
"They technically work less hours a year, so it's to make up the difference," Scott said. "We call it day worker pay because they work straight days."
Also, firefighters assigned to one fire station who move to a different station will receive an increase for that move.
"Detail days went from $5 to $15," Scott said. "If a firefighter goes to Station 2 and has to then go to Station 7, they get $5 to drive to Station 7. That's going to $15."
Metro on 05/07/2019